S1 E12 In Blue; Takedown

09/08/10 | TV-14 | CC

POLICE LOG: Today is rookie evaluation day. Staff Sergeant Frank Best to announce which rookies will continue to ride with their training officers and which ones will be “cut loose.” Detailed report follows:

Staff Sergeant Best accidentally leaves the evaluations for Chris and Dov in a copy machine. So, the boys read them. Chris is great at following the rules but needs to step up and think for himself. As for Dov, he needs to take the job more seriously. Dov says, “We got one last shift to serve, protect and prove everybody else wrong.”

A young girl is dead after falling off a roof during a party. Most of the partygoers are underage. The victim’s ID states that she’s 21. Unfortunately, the photo on the card doesn’t match the face on the body. Andy convinces Noelle to check out the address on the ID. She recognizes the victim in a photo with her sister and her soldier mom, who is home on leave. Now Andy has to tell this heroic woman that her youngest daughter is dead.

At the crime scene, Gail’s typically icy exterior melts ever-so-slightly when Sam asks her to babysit the victim’s body. Dov convinces some reluctant witnesses to give up the name of a guy the girl had been dating. They argued on the roof, perhaps because the victim was pregnant. Chris inventories of all confiscated cell phones and finds a video that clearly shows the girl’s fall was an accident. Looks like Dov took his interrogation duties seriously and Chris stepped up his game.

According to the victim’s sister, the mom has become more and more detached. Andy finds the despondent woman sitting behind a desk with a gun in her hand. Her daughter needed her, but she could never crack that armor she put up to survive life as a soldier. Now she’s given up and Andy has no idea how to stop her from pulling the trigger of a gun that’s now pointed at her head.

Noelle arrives and tells the woman that she’ll be nothing more than a selfish woman if she forces her other daughter to bury her entire family in one day. This seems to register the woman who puts down the gun. Andy cuffs the mom for her own safety as her other daughter hugs her. Both family members are extremely shaken, as is our favorite rookie cop.

Andy doesn’t even crack a smile as Sergeant Best reads her glowing evaluation. She’s afraid of what’s happening to her because of the job. She has firsthand knowledge of the damage that can be done. Frank knows that she’s referring to her dad. He asks Andy to hand over the badge she holds in her hand. It doesn’t belong to her anyway. Frank says, “You’ve been carrying around your father’s badge. It’s a nice gesture, keeping it in the family. But you need a new one. Your own badge. A fresh start.” But will she take it?

One by one, Best calls the rookies into his office for evaluations. And one by one they all leave with a smile on their face. Andy, meanwhile, reminisces about all that she’s been through this past year at 15. The people here are more than her fellow officers. They’re her friends. They’re family.

There’s a brief “cutting loose” ceremony at the station as the training officers cut all ties (as in the actual ties on the police uniforms) from their rookies. The celebration spills over to The Penny, but Traci can’t stay. She’s having breakfast with her son Leo and her ex, Dex. That leaves Jerry with an extra apple martini in his hand and, we’re guessing, a little pain in his gut.

Andy shoots a slight smile to her training officer, Sam, who is seated at the other end of the bar with Gail. Actually, they aren’t seated there for long once Gail asks Sam if he wants to get some air. Andy watches as the two of them head toward the door. She turns away when Luke puts his arm around her, but then focuses her attention back to the door. But Sam and Gail have definitely left the building.

POLICE LOG: All available personnel are to assist in an undercover operation. Officers Swarak and McNally will pose as boyfriend and girlfriend in a multimillion dollar drug deal. All officers are advised to proceed with extreme caution as suspects are ruthless killers. Detailed report follows:

Luke Callaghan puts in a bid on a new house and then makes Andy an offer, too. He wants her to live with him. Traci says, “You move in with a guy and it’s for real. You’re not playing around anymore. Are you ready for that?” Andy says domestication seems to be working out for Traci. She’s back with her ex, Dex, and home in time for dinner each night after asking to be put on desk duty. So, everyone’s happy. Right?

Andy and Chris respond to a disturbance at the home of Dov’s girlfriend, Edie. Her angry ex, Gabe, is in town and just happens to have a gun in the glove compartment and a couple million bucks in his car’s backseat. So, the rookies arrest him. All that money was going to be used in a big time drug deal which has been the focus of hush-hush undercover investigation. The head of the task force, Detective Boyd, is ticked because he believes the entire operation is compromised thanks to a couple of gung ho newbies. Sam begs to differ.

Sam will pose as Gabe to keep the operation alive. The drug dealers have never seen Gabe, as he’s only the middle man delivering someone else’s money. Jerry doesn’t want Sam going in without backup, so Andy offers to play the part of his girlfriend. She’s not thrilled with Luke, who worries about her safety. But Sam points out that he didn’t have to be involved in this particular sting. He wanted in so he could have her back.

Dov believes his girlfriend may be hiding something when Gabe’s phone number appears multiple times on Edie’s phone bill. All the calls were incoming though. Dov realizes he shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions and Edie realizes that their different lifestyles just don’t mesh. Oliver tries to cushion the rookie’s heartache by reminding him that he still has his family at the 15.

Chris and Gail check out an abandoned building owned by the drug buyer. All looks clear until a hooded figure knocks the wind out of Chris. When blood spills from his belly, Chris realizes he’s been stabbed. As Gail rushes to help her partner, the knifeman locks them in a room. They’re trapped with no radio signal. Things go from bad to worse when a team of drug runners enter the building and it looks like they’ll be staying awhile.

Andy worries she’s been “faking it” all this time. Sam says, “McNally, listen to me. I’ve been with you since you started. And I’ve seen how far you’ve come. And I’m telling you right now there’s nobody I’d rather go through that door with. Nobody. So if you can’t trust yourself on that, you trust me. ‘Cause you’re ready.”

Sam and Andy are ridiculously believable as a couple, so the dealers totally buy into their covers. But the deal goes a little sideways when the main dealer says the drugs are at a second location. Andy will stay behind with the dealer’s partner while Sam takes a trip to get the narcotics. They happen to be in the same building where Chris and Gail are trapped.

Traci and Dov realize that “by the book” Chris hasn’t checked in lately. Jerry says Sam and the dealer are headed toward the building Chris and Gail were canvassing. All available personal are to head over to the building. That includes former desk jockeys Dov and Traci, who thanks Jerry for making her see that she’s happiest when she’s being a real cop.

Andy discovers that Gabe’s boss is in town to protect his investment. He’ll be at the drug deal location. If Sam’s cover is blown, he’s a dead man. Andy tries to leave, but the nervous hood she’s with pulls a gun. Andy clues him in as to what’s going down. She says, “Shoot me or let me walk out. Because you might be new at this, but this is not my first day.” Andy rushes out of the building. The race is on to save Sam.

Police swarm the building. Gail is relieved until gunfire erupts in a violent shootout. A call comes over the radio that one victim has been shot dead. Andy can only hope it isn’t Sam. When she arrives at the scene, the battle is over. Andy apprehensively steps forward as a tarp is pulled away to reveal the identity gunshot victim. It’s the ruthless drug lord. Sam is safe. He says Andy was great. Guess she doesn’t have to fake it anymore.

Andy thanks Luke for having her back and wonders when they get the keys to their new home. Chris tells Gail she should go be part of the action as he’s being loaded into the ambulance. No way that’s happening. She’s not about to leave her partner.

Back at the station, Andy, Traci and Dov take a break on the trunk of a squad car. They reflect on the fact that they were part of the biggest drug bust in 15’s history. They’re feeling pretty good about things as Traci says, “We’re coppers.” Then a veteran officer walks by. He says, “Hey, rookies, get the hell off the car.” They may be coppers, but they still have a long way to go.